2580 Seconds With Bill Belichick

It’s been a busy off-season for Bill Belichick.  Between singing with Charlie Weis and Bon Jovi (see video after the jump), he lost his offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to Denver and his trusted sidekick and friend Scott Pioli to Kansas City.  Throw in a trade of Matt Cassel and his defensive stalwart Mike Vrabel along with the question marks surrounding newly married Tom Brady and his rehabilitation from ACL surgery, and it should be an interesting 2009 season for Belichick and the Pats.

We always hear about Belichick being boring and less than forthcoming with the media, but on Thursday he joined the Big Show on WEEI in Boston with Glen Ordway, Rob Bradford, and guest host Curt Schilling for 43 minutes.  He was glib, open, and at times even showed a sense of humor (just a little, but a sense of humor nonetheless).  Wow, he is human after all!  Belichick talks about not having Pioli around, the Cassel trade, Julius Peppers, and lots more in his 2,580 seconds on the radio. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

On if his off-season changed much without Pioli around:

“I guess the thing that is a little bit different this year has been internally with the new people on the coaching staff, the new people in scouting, we’ve spent more time probably meeting and going over things and just  all trying to get on the same page and making sure that everybody kind of sees things the same  way and we’re all headed in the right direction.  We probably spent a little more time doing that than we have the last couple of years. Otherwise, I’d say it’s about the same.”

On the Matt Cassel deal and only getting a 2nd round draft pick:

“In the end, when you trade a player that only has one year on his contract, and we weren’t in a position where we could offer Matt a long-term contract, you know that just wasn’t something we could do, we ended up trading him with only one year left on his contract.  Right now, he’s in Kansas City on a one year deal. We all know historically that when you trade a player that has one year on a contract that’s a lot different than trading a player who has multi-years that a team can commit too. In other words, the same situation with a player with three years left on his contract is probably worth more on the market than a player with one.”

“Believe me those teams I personally had contact with 24-48 hours before the consummation of Matt’s trade to Kansas City and they said they had no interest in the player. There was no offer, there was speculation as to what a team might or might not have been willing to trade.”After the break see more excerpts from the interview with Bill Belichick and access to the whole 43 minute interview.

On Julius Peppers not signing the franchise tender:

”I don’t think that’s a good way to do business.  I personally would not do it that way. I think if a player wants to be traded or wants to be in a position where he could be traded, then the best thing for that player to do is do what Matt Cassel did, sign the tender, be under contract, and then go to the team and say, ‘OK, I don’t want to be here, trade me, this is where I want to go’